My startup, TidePowerd, went through the inaugural class (Fall 2009) of the Springboard incubator (http://www.springboard.com). I'll say without a doubt that we wouldn't have had anywhere near the success we've had to date without going through the program.

Back then, the incubator was hosted on-premises at Red Gate Software; they're the friendliest bunch of folks I've ever met, and always went out of their way to help us however they could. About once a week, we'd have a one-hour lecture by one of the Red-Gaters giving us a "crash course" in some area of the software business -- sales, marketing, customer service, product management, and more.

We also had the chance to have beer and pizza with some of the big names in the startup world: Peldi (of Balsamiq), Ryan Carson (of Carsonified), and even Joel Spolsky. It's great to have a few minutes to bounce ideas off people who have built a successful business in the same way you want to, and it was really cool of them to take the time to give us advice.

I could go on for ages, but instead I'll wrap up with this: it'll tough -- because Springboard offers you a lot of learning opportunities (in addition to the work you'll need to do to build your startup) -- but going through the program will be the best thing that ever happened to you (and to your startup).

Apply: http://www.springboard.com

If you have any questions, feel free to send me an email (my address is in my profile).